War for the Atlas on Xbox One.
Grinding Gear Games has finally released War for the Atlas on Xbox One. After a bit of a delay from the PC version of the expansion, Xbox players can now enjoy the numerous missions and dungeons added by War for the Atlas. Introducing over thirty new maps and loads of new PoE items, War for the Atlas further balances the game for the Xbox One community.
The game looks absolutely stunning on console and even better on the Xbox One X, which is capable of making PoE run on a native 4K resolution with 60FPS and many other visual features. Since this is only an aesthetic change, there are no real gameplay differences playing PoE on the Xbox One X and the regular Xbox One.
If you are like many other players that were attracted by the Dark Souls-inspired theme of PoE, you will be pleased to know that War for the Atlas expands upon the Lovecraftian chapter of the lore. It features the war between two powerful entities known as the Shaper and the Elder. Veterans of the previous expansion will have no love lost for the Shaper as it was the main antagonist that caused many troubles for would-be adventurers. This time around the Elder, which is apparently much more powerful, is challenging the Shaper for its territory as mortals are caught in this cosmic conflict.
Ten new gems have also been introduced into the game. Some are active skills and some passive. There are plenty of gem combinations to figure out in War for the Atlas, and this certainly adds a whole new layer of depth to the combat of PoE. This becomes especially interesting as it is the first time PoE has ever tinkered with Necromancer-type abilities. which enable players to manipulate corpses for their bidding, explode to damage enemies, or to use as a mobility option through teleportation. One can also partake in the newly added Abyss Challenge where players can earn rewards by sealing off rift-like instances in the game world with other players, scaling to your level. The Abyss League adds more group content for players to participate in. This gives PoE even more of a feel as an MMO rather than a solo-centric ARPG since it enables players of all levels to be able to participate at the same time.
Unfortunately, what it does not bring to the table is cross-platform support due to balance issues that will inevitably arise between the two platforms, PC and Xbox. However, that is not any cause for alarm as both platforms have healthy populations that ensure there is always someone to play with.
Hundreds of hours have been added into this latest expansion, and it seems to be living up to all of the hype. On Xbox One, at least, the game is as balanced as can be and just as well optimized akin to the PC version. What other things are in store for players in War of the Atlas? Jump into the game and defend the world from these two clashing entities!
